Trial opens for Dumont man accused of killing his wife

By KIBRET MARKOS

Staff Writer
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The Record

Furious with suspicions of infidelity, a Dumont man beat his wife with a club and fatally slit her throat with a fishing knife two years ago as she begged him to stop and told him she still loved him, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor told a murder trial jury Tuesday.

The defense attorney for Peter Shanley, meanwhile, told jurors that Shanley, a 58-year-old well-known member of a small community, had never laid a finger on his wife during 35 years of marriage and was provoked by months of frustration over a crumbling marriage when he turned violent.

Problems began to emerge between the couple in the winter of 2010, when Debra Shanley discovered a new hobby, bought a Harley Davidson motorcycle and joined a biker group, said Carol Novey-Catuogno, the assistant prosecutor, as lawyers made opening statements in the murder trial of Peter Shanley in state Superior Court in Hackensack.

“A lot of time spent outside the home, and suspicions of infidelity,” she said.

Peter Shanley was so unhappy that at some point he used an electric saw to cut up his wife’s motorcycle, Catuogno said. Debra Shanley then bought another used bike, she said.

The two eventually agreed that Peter Shanley would move out of the house, and he was to move into an apartment on Apr. 15, 2010, she said.

On Apr. 10, 2010, Debra Shanley went for a ride with her biker group, and although she had planned to come home for dinner, she later changed her mind, called her husband and told him that she wouldn’t be home for dinner, Catuogno said. She went to dinner instead with three men from her biker group, she said.

An argument erupted between the Shanleys when she came home that night, and Debra threw a lamp at her husband, Catuogno said. She said Peter Shanley then retrieved a club and beat his wife on the head at least eight times, causing blood to splatter all over the bedroom walls.

“You will hear how she begged him to stop, that she told him she still loved him and that she was sorry,” Catuogno said.

But Shanley went on to retrieve a knife and inflicted “25 different injuries” on Debra Shanley, including slitting her throat and causing her almost instant death, she said.

Peter Shanley left the bedroom, closed the door behind him and stayed in the house for hours, at one point tripping over a dog and breaking his ankle, Catuogno said. Police were later called to the Garden Street home and found him with injuries to his neck and ankle, she said.

“But he was very much conscious and very much alive,” Catuogno said.

Police also found Debra Shanley’s lifeless body in the bedroom, she said.

Catuogno said Debra Shanley had planned to go for another ride with her group the following morning. Her friends reported her missing when she didn’t show up for the ride, she said.

Defense attorney Brian Neary said Peter Shanley indeed caused his wife’s death, but told jurors that it was up to them to determine the degree of responsibility.

He said that Peter and Debra Shanley had been married for more than three decades and raised two boys. Peter Shanley was retired at the time after working for years as a public works employee in Dumont. His wife was a teacher in the Bergenfield school system, Neary said.

Then, in what seemed to be a midlife crisis, Debra Shanley, at age 54, started a new hobby and made new friends, growing distant from her family, Neary said. He said her husband was baffled and confused when his wife began spending a lot of time with her biker group and stayed on the computer when she was home.

In fact, one of Debra Shanley’s biker friends became more than just a friend and became her lover, Neary said

Unsure of what to do, Peter Shanley cut the handlebars of his wife’s motorcycle, but later tried to make amends by taking his wife to Pennsylvania so she could buy another motorcycle, he said, and the dinner on Apr. 10, 2010, was yet another effort by Peter Shanley to make amends, but his wife cancelled the dinner and went out with her friends instead.

“She continued to frustrate the relationship,” Neary said.

Neary did not use the phrase “passion provocation” in his opening statement, but told jurors to determine whether the killing was a planned attack or whether it was an act triggered by continuous frustration over a period of several months.

“What had happened to his life that brought him to this?” Neary asked.

Shanley was hospitalized at the time and treated for his injuries. He was charged with murder, and has since been held at the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Trial opens for Dumont man accused of killing his wife

Furious with suspicions of infidelity, a Dumont man beat his wife with a club and fatally slit her throat with a fishing knife two years ago as she begged him to stop and told him she still loved him, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor told a murder trial jury Tuesday.

The defense attorney for Peter Shanley, meanwhile, told jurors that Shanley, a 58-year-old well-known member of a small community, had never laid a finger on his wife during 35 years of marriage and was provoked by months of frustration over a crumbling marriage when he turned violent.

Problems began to emerge between the couple in the winter of 2010, when Debra Shanley discovered a new hobby, bought a Harley Davidson motorcycle and joined a biker group, said Carol Novey-Catuogno, the assistant prosecutor, as lawyers made opening statements in the murder trial of Peter Shanley in state Superior Court in Hackensack.

“A lot of time spent outside the home, and suspicions of infidelity,” she said.

Peter Shanley was so unhappy that at some point he used an electric saw to cut up his wife’s motorcycle, Catuogno said. Debra Shanley then bought another used bike, she said.

The two eventually agreed that Peter Shanley would move out of the house, and he was to move into an apartment on Apr. 15, 2010, she said.

On Apr. 10, 2010, Debra Shanley went for a ride with her biker group, and although she had planned to come home for dinner, she later changed her mind, called her husband and told him that she wouldn’t be home for dinner, Catuogno said. She went to dinner instead with three men from her biker group, she said.

An argument erupted between the Shanleys when she came home that night, and Debra threw a lamp at her husband, Catuogno said. She said Peter Shanley then retrieved a club and beat his wife on the head at least eight times, causing blood to splatter all over the bedroom walls.

“You will hear how she begged him to stop, that she told him she still loved him and that she was sorry,” Catuogno said.

But Shanley went on to retrieve a knife and inflicted “25 different injuries” on Debra Shanley, including slitting her throat and causing her almost instant death, she said.

Peter Shanley left the bedroom, closed the door behind him and stayed in the house for hours, at one point tripping over a dog and breaking his ankle, Catuogno said. Police were later called to the Garden Street home and found him with injuries to his neck and ankle, she said.

“But he was very much conscious and very much alive,” Catuogno said.

Police also found Debra Shanley’s lifeless body in the bedroom, she said.

Catuogno said Debra Shanley had planned to go for another ride with her group the following morning. Her friends reported her missing when she didn’t show up for the ride, she said.

Defense attorney Brian Neary said Peter Shanley indeed caused his wife’s death, but told jurors that it was up to them to determine the degree of responsibility.

He said that Peter and Debra Shanley had been married for more than three decades and raised two boys. Peter Shanley was retired at the time after working for years as a public works employee in Dumont. His wife was a teacher in the Bergenfield school system, Neary said.

Then, in what seemed to be a midlife crisis, Debra Shanley, at age 54, started a new hobby and made new friends, growing distant from her family, Neary said. He said her husband was baffled and confused when his wife began spending a lot of time with her biker group and stayed on the computer when she was home.

In fact, one of Debra Shanley’s biker friends became more than just a friend and became her lover, Neary said

Unsure of what to do, Peter Shanley cut the handlebars of his wife’s motorcycle, but later tried to make amends by taking his wife to Pennsylvania so she could buy another motorcycle, he said, and the dinner on Apr. 10, 2010, was yet another effort by Peter Shanley to make amends, but his wife cancelled the dinner and went out with her friends instead.

“She continued to frustrate the relationship,” Neary said.

Neary did not use the phrase “passion provocation” in his opening statement, but told jurors to determine whether the killing was a planned attack or whether it was an act triggered by continuous frustration over a period of several months.

“What had happened to his life that brought him to this?” Neary asked.

Shanley was hospitalized at the time and treated for his injuries. He was charged with murder, and has since been held at the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.